Boss reflects on victory over Leeds United and has special praise for returning frontman.
Manager Paul Cox has hailed the character of Liam Hearn, who marked his Mansfield Town debut with a remarkable brace against Championship heavyweights Leeds United at One Call Stadium tonight.Hearn, who has spent much of the last two seasons on the sidelines through due to separate long-term injuries, came off the bench and changed the course of the match.
His quick-fire brace helped us to a comfortable 2-0 victory and Cox was delighted to see the frontman not only score, but get through his time on the pitch without any reaction to his previous injuries.
āIt was a really good work out for us again,ā said our boss. āThe lads worked hard and Iām really grateful that David (Hockaday) brought a really strong side down, because thatās what we want.
āThe score-line for me means a little, because itās nice and it gives the boys a little bit of confidence, but Iām kind of looking forward to the Grimsby and Lincoln City games as thatās where itāll test our mindset.
āThese [home] games are lovely and itās nice for the supporters. Weāre in a nice place at the minute, the boys are working hard and itās lovely to see Liam, with his injury situation, come and [do well] in his first game.ā
He continued: āHe scored the penalty like heād never been away and the second goal was just pure Liam Hearn.
āAs a side I think weāre working hard and itās nice to see that little bit of depth now with one or two [players] coming back from injury. Weāre enjoying pre-season ā the boys are working hard and grabbing the concepts.
He continued: āWhen youāve had an injury like [Liam Hearn] has, I think just coming onto the pitch is a massive statement, but when you come on, get brought down for a penalty and then have the mentality to get up, having been out for so long, and stick it away just shows his character.
āEvery centre-forward is a confidence person, but thatāll have done him the world of good. The main thing was getting him on and off the pitch without any sort of reaction to the injury and progressing from here.
āA lot of people will look at this [result] and make assumptions about it, but it all starts on 09 August for me.ā